iPods, Mozaics, Sansa Fuzes, Oh My! Whatever mp3 player you use, did you know you can use it as a “virtual library” of audio books and podcasts to help you with your caregiving duties? Thanks to iTunes, it’s relatively easy to subscribe to a variety of podcasts to learn about such topics as dementia, caregiver stress, Parkinson’s Disease, help for the caregiver, and more.

I love to listen to my Nano iPod as I drive to and from my various Sandwich Generation caregiving requirements, stand in long lines, take walks to deal with caregiver stress and even, occasionally, fly cross country. I was thrilled to discover, recently, that my car has a connector jack that gives me one of those great “car mp3 players.” This allows me to share songs and stories from my iPod through the sound system.

I can only hand-carry a couple of books at a time with me, but with my iPod, I can bring the equivalent of 50+ books as well as a smaller hand-picked selection of all my favorite praise and worship songs. And I only have a 4gb iPod! Think what you could do with 80 or more gb like some mp3 players have.

Even before I had an mp3 player, I enjoyed audio books and podcasts by using iTunes on my computer. I downloaded what I wanted onto my computer. Then I either listened to the computer or “burned” a CD of the materials I was interested in and took them with me using a CD player. The mp3 player is a lot easier, though, and over time helps pay its way by not requiring me to keep buying CDs. Not only that, since most of the podcasts I listen to are free, I’ve found it to be a great money saver there as well!

I tend to go whole hog on what I read. In other words, I will go through a period of reading all Christian fiction, all real estate, all science fiction, or all computer geek books. I do the same with the podcasts I listen to. Right now, I am primarily listening to blogging podcasts and enjoying them tremendously. But I also have a list of five interesting podcasts about caregiving that I thought you might enjoy:

• Caregiving – Denise Brown
• Coping With Caregiving – Jacqueline Marcell
• Parkinson’s Disease – PD Talk Live

The following are more of a technical discourse as opposed to the above podcasts which use more of a casual chatting format:

• The Lancet - This covers neurology issues such as Parkinson’s Disease, Alzheimer’s Disease, stroke, etc.
• MUSC Health Podcast Library – a wide variety of elderly ailments,  including Alzheimer’s Disease, Geriatrics, and more are dealt with.

SANDWICH GENERATION:

Sound Mind Investing has been one of my favorite financial sites since I discovered their book, Sound Mind Investing Handbook . They have a great article for those of us in the Sandwich Generation to share with our parents and work on together, Parents, Organize Your Financial Life — It’s the Loving Thing To Do

Complementing this article is another excellent one for the Sandwich Generation , Achieving Family Harmony in Estate Planning , Part 1:Leave Yr Estate in the Right Hands , by Free Money Finance.

Encouragement – The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

Are you making plans for summer travel? Here’s something interesting to think about. The Statue of Liberty is scheduled to reopen on July 4.

Encouragement – Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee.

POSTAGE INCREASE : Stamps go up to 44 cents today , Monday, May 11, 2009. “On May 11 the price for a 1-ounce First-Class Mail stamp will increase from 42¢ to 44¢. Prices for other mailing services — Standard Mail, Periodicals, Package Services (including Parcel Post), and Extra Services — will also change…prices for most shipping services, including Express Mail and Priority Mail, were adjusted in January and will not change in May.” 

May is a good time to buy appliances as prices are cut for both Mother’s Day and Memorial Day. So if you or your aging parents have worn out any of your appliances, this is the month to watch for sales!

CAREGIVERS:

Caregiving is not just a blessing for the recipient, it is actually very beneficial to us as caregivers as well. Dale Carter found a fascinating article at MomLogic, Caring for Elderly Leads to Longer Life , which describes what researchers at the University of Michigan discovered. Denise Brown conducts an interview with Stephanie Brown, one of the researchers of this study at the University of Michigan. These two resources are interesting, encouraging and eye-opening!

Privacy Concerns for Patients & Their Caregivers: Hackers breach UC Berkeley computer database. Read about medical records that may have been compromised.

Early treatment for stroke is absolutely essential – Stroke & the Golden Hour

100 Million Adults Touched by Alzheimer’s ! per Alzheimer’s Reading Room . Wow!

A useful flu tracker for swine flu . Give it a minute or two to load.

Do you have Lysol in the house ? I do, after reading the article, Lysol Kills Swine Flu Virus .The article also includes links for coupons.

GRANDPARENTS

I had to chuckle at TwinHappyJen’s comment – “ I just still feel like I’m getting hit by a couple of twinadoes every day .” As a grandma of two adorable twins, I know just how she feels and it is so much fun!    Speaking of Twins and TwinHappy, I just wanted to remind you they are sponsoring the TwinHappy carnival . If you scroll down their carnival page, you’ll find a rubber ducky with my name, Kaye, on it linking right back here to last week’s article, Grand Summer Fun for Grandma and Grandkids .

An adorably elfish and fun site for grandparents and grandkids can be found at Aunt Linda’s blog .

“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” Benjamin Franklin. That is so true. There are plenty of ways grandparents can invest in their grandkids’ knowledge . Helping with homeschooling resources is one of them. Here are some Homeschool Teacher Helps : Writing Links, Graphic Organizers, Learning Styles, Timelines, and more that you might want to share with your homeschooling kids and grandkids.